Residents urge Glen Cove officials to appeal on group home

On May 15, the New York State Office of Mental Health ruled that the city cannot prevent a group home for women with eating disorders from setting up in a Glen Cove home at 1 St. Andrews Lane.

The Glen Cove City Council had voted unanimously on February 20 against a proposal by a California-based company, Monte Nido, to open what would be the first residential eating disorder treatment facility on Long Island.

The arguments that residents made at a Feb. 20, public hearing at City Hall on the matter — specifically those that pertained to Monte Nido’s proposed alterations to the property, including adding a 12-space parking lot — were ultimately rejected as “not germane” to the legal questions upon which the hearing was based, namely, whether there are already so many such facilities in the area that one more would change the nature of the neighborhood.

At a city council meeting on May 22, residents urged council members to file an “Article 78” legal challenge to the state’s ruling. According to a Fordham Urban Law Journal article titled, “NIMBY’s Legacy,” for an Article 78 proceeding to prevail, the OMH’s ruling must be found to have been, “arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion,” which means, the article continues, “there is a strong presumption favoring the regulatory authority.”

Mayor Tim Tenke said that the council met privately just before the public meeting on Tuesday to discuss the matter, and added that they weren’t yet ready to decide whether to take further action.

To the approximately 10 neighbors of 1 St. Andrews Lane who attended the meeting, Tenke invited them to a private meeting on May 23, where they could address their concerns with him.